Word bitch

[azurelunatic]

tick/tic.

Here we have three different things. We have some onomatopoeia, like the sound made by a clock: tick tick tick or tic-toc. We have an irritating crawly life-form that spreads disease: My dog came home with ticks in its ears. And we have an involuntary body movement, such as the corner of someone's eye twitching uncontrollably when they're enraged.

Any guesses as to which is which? Hint: tic is not a creature, nor are involuntary movements spelled the same way the creature is.

Comments

[boojum.livejournal.com]

There's also tick as in "tick items off a list" and tic-tac-toe, which has a gazillion spellings.